THE "MESHUSHE" GROUP
In 1980, Gildor was one of the founders of Meshushe (Hexagon) group. The group's goal was to introduce Surrealistic art to the Israeli art space that was dominated by the abstract and conceptual art movements at the time. The founding group was comprised of 6 surrealist artists: Baruch Elron, Yoav Shuali, Arie Lamdan, Asher Rodnitzky, Rachel Timor and Jacob Gildor. The group held 10 exhibitions all around Israel and although they were warmly accepted and admired by the Israeli audience, they never managed to enter the Israeli Canon of Art critiques.
PARIS
In early 1987, Gildor received an invitation to travel to the Cite des Arts in Paris, which included two permanent Israeli studios, in which the artists were changed every six months. At the studio at the end of the corridor resided Mordechai Ardon. This experience exposed the painters to the Parisian atmosphere creating where the greatest artists once worked.
At the end of that year an exhibition summing up Gildor's stay in Paris was presented at Cite International des Arts in Paris. Throughout the years Gildor exhibited in many Galleries in Israel, Sweden, Germany and France.
SECOND GENERATION
By being the son of two holocaust survivors, Jacob Gildor belonged to a group frequently called “The Second Generation”. The term was coined in the 1980’s when youth, sons and daughters to holocaust survivors reached the stage of self-awareness and began to shape their identity as such. Although the “second generation” did not experience the events, the impact can be seen in their work.
Gildor began addressing the issue directly only in the 1990’s, however, hints about the subject can be found in his early work as well. This topic influenced his art work from 1993 and during 20 years.
SEGMENTS OF CREATION - A RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION
In 2009, a major comprehensive retrospective exhibition, “Segments of Creation”, with Gildor's works throughout 4 decades was held in the Israeli Museum, Ramat Gan curated by the Museum Chief Curator and Director, Meir Aharonson. The exhibition was displayed for six months and was accompanied by a three part complete monography.